Once called global warming, then climate change and now the climate crisis or the climate emergency — unfortunately it is a crisis, and we all need to act now to curb its devastating effects.
The main cause of the climate crisis are greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. Natural cycles would keep these gases under control, but since the beginning of the Industrial Age, our use of fossil fuels and animal farming practices, amongst other ‘developed’ activities, has led to exponential growth in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) gases in our atmosphere.
Under the Paris Agreement, 194 states and the EU have agreed to legally-binding targets to limit temperature rises to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, aiming for 1.5°C.